My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils’ bats remain quiet as they are defeated by the Giants, 7-2.

For the second straight game, the Phils are unable to get a key hit as they hit themselves out of runs as they lose to the Giants, 7-2. Their lead in the NL East remains at six games as the Marlins are defeated by the Braves.

The Phils took the lead in the first as, with one man on, and with two men out, Ryan Howard hits an RBI double, knocking in Chase Utley, who had earlier walked, to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The Giants quickly tied it up at one-all in their half of the first as, with one man on, and nobody out, Eugenio Velez hits an RBI double, scoring Andres Torres, who had earlier gotten on base with a bunt single, and then stole second base, while Velez would move up to third on Jayson Werth’s fielding error on the ball. The Giants then took the lead as Pablo Sandoval hits a sacrifice fly, knocking in Velez, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead. The Giants added to their lead in the third as, with one out, Sandoval hits a solo home run, his sixteenth home run of the season, making it a 3-1 Giants’ lead. The Giants then broke the game wide open in the fourth. With the bases loaded, via a single by Edgar Renteria, a Pedro Feliz throwing error to second base on a grounder hit to him by Juan Uribe, which had Renteria going to third and Uribe stopping at second base, and a walk to Randy Winn, and two men out, Velez hits a two-run single, knocking in both Renteria and Uribe, making it a 5-1 Giants’ lead, while sending Winn up to second base. Sandoval then made it a 7-1 Giants’ lead as he hits an RBI double, scoring both Winn and Velez. The Phils made it 7-2 in the sixth, as Utley hits a lead-off home run, his twenty-third home run of the year. But, that would be the final score, as neither team would be able to score again as both bullpens shut down the other team’s offense.

Rodrigo Lopez took the lost as he pitched only four innings, giving up seven runs, only three of which were earned, on eight hits and two walks, as he struck out two. His record is now 3-1 with an ERA of 3.62. This was more than likely his last start in the Phils’ starting rotation. Kyle Kendrick pitched two shut out innings, giving up just one hit and a walk, while striking out one. Tyler Walker also pitched two scoreless innings, giving up just one walk, as he struck out three Giants. Jonathan Sanchez got the win as he pitched five and two-thirds inning, giving up two runs on three hits and three walks, as he struck out seven batters. His record is now 4-9 with an ERA of 4.81. Justin Miller, Merken Valdez and Bob Howry combined for three and one-third scoreless innings, giving up just two hits (Miller and Valdez one hit each), as they struck out two Phils (Valdez and Howry one each).

The Phils had only five hits in yesterday’s game, with Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard and Ben Francisco (playing for the hurt Shane Victorino) each recording a hit, with Howard’s hit being an RBI double, while Utley’s was a solo home run, knocking in the two Phils’ runs. The Phillies over agrressiveness did them in once again, as they are unable to stay patient enough to bring in the runs they needed to score via a clutch hit. They will try to break their losing streak tonight.

The Phillies (58-42, 1st National League East) will continue their four-games series with the Giants (56-46, 2nd National League West), with a night game. The game will be played at AT&T Park and will begin at 10:15 pm Eastern (7:15 pm Pacific). The Phils’ starter will be Cliff Lee (7-9, 3.14), who they had just acquired from the Indians in a trade. He has won his last three starts for the Indians, with his last one coming on July 26 against the Mariners, where he went seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits, as he struck out four, in the Indians’ 12-3 win. He will be trying to continue his personal dominance of the Giants while trying to contribute to his new team. His opponent will be Ryan Sadowski (2-3, 4.81), who is coming off a lost to the Rockies on July 26, as he pitched only two and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks, as he struck out two, in the Giants’ 4-2 lost. He will be trying to even his record, while hoping to continue the Phillies’ present offense problems. The Phils’ offense will be trying to give support to their new addition, while hoping that Lee will quickly prove his worth to the ballclub.

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